Submarine mine



" l E. ELIA `SUBMARINE MINE Filed Dec. 1924 Patented July 21,

@Nuevas-r Pj FICE- ,I

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELISAy or WEsTMINsTERIloNDoM ENGLAND, VAssIGrNoltV 'ro vIcKERs LIMITED, or WESTMINSTER, ENGLANnn BRITISH COMPANY. o

Y o VSUBMANINI: MINE.

,'Apucauon mea December 1, 1921i.v 'sexier No.753,143.

Be it known thatl I, GIOVANNI' EMANUELE ELIA, aV subject .of the `King of Italy, of Vicliers `House, Broadway, Westn'iinst'er, iny

theV countyk of London', England, have in-j .vented certain nevv/"andnsetul VImprovements in or Relating to.` Submarine Mines,

of which the following is a specification: This invention relates to: submarine mines of the kind Vwhich comprises r`a vflotation chamber or mine proper andv an anchor or slnker containing a drum on which y1s wound a mooring cable which connects the anchor or sinkerto'l the flotation chamber, a plummet being I provided' which is normally adapted' to hold' a pawl 'orV pawling gear out not' engagement with ratchet teeth on the cable'drum during the vdescent of theanchor f n in the' water so as to allow the mooring cable thefsea bed,being:adapted` to allow -thek to unwind, and the plummet, on touching `pawl to engage with. the ratchet teeth so 'as to lstop thecontinuerd,unwinding ot -the Vmooring cable, the sinker then drawing v thefl'otation chamber beneath the surface of the water until: it assumes the/depthppredetermined by the length of the line which connects theplummetto thev pawl or pawl ing gear. In. certain cases, especially where the mine is adaptedl to be',` used against submarines and where the lotationchamb'er requiresl to vbe anchored at a considerable depthbelow the lsurface of' the water, the plummety line must` off necessity be of cou- 'fsiderabl'e length Vand owing t'othis' fact. the

strain on theplummet line when the plum- 'met' issuddenly stoppedjat thev endl of' a tree descent is so great' thatv the line may'break, thus renderingvthe mine useless According t0 the present mventionithe i 1 plummet line 1s wound upon a drum or. reel mounted' either' within the plummet itself erpreferablywithin thev anchoryor Vsinker Y and ymeans `are provided which admit of a uniform unwinding. ofthe 'plummet line.L y Y To this end suitable braking means are'prc'- vided for the drum or reel, rthe braking Y Lmeans'being, for example, of asimilar type `-galbe, e. friction-brake, a vhydraulic'orV y to those usually. employed vfor. A( :controlling the unwinding or paying. out of: the mooring lotherliquid brakev or'rfan'oil' pump brake7A provided' with meanstor regulating'the cir culation of theuid so as Vto control* at will thegrate .at-'which thek plummetlinefvis allcwedto pay out.

- Inorder thatthe-isaid invention may' be i clearly understood and readily carriedV into eiect the samewilli n ow-l bet described umore fully with referencefto Vthe accompanying drawingv which Vshows by way of' Vexample one embodiment of the; invention and in Y which Figure l is ai sectional elevation of Ythe improved plummet drum and itsi braking mechanism;V Y

Figure Q, isy an end view thereof, andV lFig is a detail.VV I. Y 's Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing part' of the sinlzer, theV cas-ing for thel plummet lineyas alsothegplumvmet and-the con nection to the' pawling gear. f y

l 1 is the drum' or reel on whichtlie plum# met lineQ'iswound Y 3 isa shaft which is rotatably mounted 1in the end platelf and intermediate plate'fll2 of an enclosing" cas.

ing 4 which' carries the drum*V or reel. 1i, the latter being' keyed'to-thef'shat 31 by" a. i

key 5. Attached to the sha-t is a gear` -wheel 4 which rotates V'within aicompa'rtiment lOlformedjby the intermediate plate 452 Vand an outer cover `plate 43, said gear wheel liquid; for example, thick' castoroil, andthe liquid isl driven bythe geary wheels 7 andV @8 in a closed circuit through a'suc'tion port l11 and a delivery port lcommunicating :with a space/13 inthe outer cover plate 43.

Mis a spring loaded'valvewhich is mounted within a'tubular guide 14, which commu-Y 17" me'shing with a second gea-'r wheel 8. The compartment lOfris lled with a suitable -K Y.

nic'atesii by means of" a port 1143 with a space 15 being leftl between the guide- 14 and` the wall of the recess 13 so as'to"placethe{suc.

tion and'delivery ports incommuni'cation with one another when `the spring-loaded valve 141Y istorced up yfrom its seating.; The spring 142 is capable of adjustment'by,`

means ot a nut 16 so as to vary the brake resistance. To the end of thel plummet line a' ball l'is attached, thefb'all being secured-I in place, for example, themethod''shown V being detachably secured, by means at Figure 3 which consists in forming a knot 18 on the end of the plummet line and locating or casting the ball of Zinc or other metal 17 around the same. 19 is a shackle to which an auxiliary length of line 20 is attached by means of a thimble 21, the other end of the line 2O being connected to any usual form of pawling gear 30 located within the anchor. The end of the plummet line 2 which is secured by means of a thimble 24 'to the Vplummet 29V passes through a sleeve V22 which is permanently attached to the shackle 19, the sleeve 22),:

o shearable pins 23, 23 to an adapter 25 attached to the plummet casing. The drum 1 is formed with a recessed part 26 within which the ball 17 normally lies. 27 is a length of yarn or other material which is connected to the line 2 adjacent to the ball 17 and wound upon the drum 1 so as in itially to secure the ball 17 in place within the cavity 26 at the commencement of the winding-on operation of the plummet line 2. The casing 4 containing the plummet line and braking mechaism may be located within or secured to the anchor 31, for eX- ample by bolts inserted through a flange 23. In operation, and when the plummet 1s released from the sinker in any known or usual manner, the plummet falls and on account of its weight the drum 1 is rotated and the plummet line 2 is unwound. As the drum 1 rotates it also rotates the spindle 3 and drives the gear wheels 7 Vand 8 and the fluid contained within the space 10 is circulated in aY closed circuit. The oil in passing .from the delivery side 12 to the suction side 11 has to be forced past the spring loaded valve 14 and as aforesaid and by suitably adjusting the nut 16 to give the requisite brake resistance the drum l can be caused to rotate at a regular and moderate speed so as to avoid shock when the plummet reaches the end of its travel. When all the plummet line 2 has been unwound the ball 17 is pulled out of the recess 26 and lodges within the cup shaped cavity at the upper end of the sleeve 22.

yThe continued pull due to the weight of the plummet will thereupon rupture the shear pins 23, 23 so that the sleeve 22 is pulled out of the adapter 25 and the plummet is thereafter connected directly to the pawling gear by the shackle 19 and its connection to the plummet line 2 and auxiliary line 20.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, a plummet connected to said sinker by a length of plummet line, a drum upon which said plummet line is wound, means which admit of a uniform unwinding of Vthe plummet line as the plummet separates from the sinker and means whereby the plummet line is allowed to separate completely from said drum for the purpose specified.

2. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, a plummet, a plummet line, pawling gear, one end of said plummet line being connected to said plummet, means which admit of a uniform unwinding of the plummet line as the plummet separates from said sinker and means for establishing a connection between the other end of said plummet line and said pawling gear after the plummet line has become completely separated from said unwinding means.

3. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, a plummet connected to said sinker by a length of plummet line, a drum upon which said plummet line is wound, braking means for regulating the speed at which the plummet line is allowed to unwind from said drum and means'whereby the plummet line is allowed to separate from said drum after the plummet line has completely unwound.

4. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, pawling gear in said sinker, a plummet line, a drum upon which said plummet line is wound, braking means for regulating the speed at which the plummet line is allowed to unwind from said drum, and means for establishing a connection between one end of said plummet line and said pawling gear after the plummet line has completely unwound and has separated from said drum.

5. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, a plummet connected to said sinker by a length of plummet line, a drum upon which said plummet line is wound, braking means which admit of a uniform unwinding of the plummet line as the plummet separates from the sinker, means for varying the resistance exercised by said braking means and means whereby the plummet line is caused to separate from said drum after the plummet line has completely unwound.

6. A submarine mine comprising a sinker, pawling gear, a predetermined length of plummet line, a drum upon which said plummet line is wound, braking means which admit of a uniform unwinding of the plummet line as the plummet separates from the sinker, means for varying the resistance exercised by said braking means and means for establishing a connection between one end of said plummet line and said pawling gear after the plummet line has completelyunwound and has separated from said unwinding means.

7. A submarine mine comprising a drum, a plummet, pawling gear, a predetermined length of plummet line on said drum one end of said plummet line being connected to said plummet, means which admit Vof a uniform unwinding of the plummet line from the said drum and means which, after said predetermined length of plummet line has k1,546,921 Y Y Y 3 v been completely unwound` and the plummet other end of said plummet line, a plummet f line, separates from the drum, establishes a casing, a shackle, a connection from` saidxl connection between 'the other endof the shackle to said paWlng gear, shearable pins` n ,f plummet line and said pawling gear. detachably connecting said shackle to said f 5 8. A submarine mine comprising a sinkplummet'casng, and means Whchfadmt of er,` a plummet, a plummet line, paWling a uniform unwindng of the plummet line l Vgear,one Vend of saidf'plummet line being for the purpose specified.

-Aconnec'ted to said plummet, a ball at the GIOVANNI EMANUELE Y 

